Before I Forget – Using Computers (and Captions!)

June 6, 2011 Comments Off on Before I Forget – Using Computers (and Captions!)

For millions globally, with computer and internet access, typing and reading messages is life-saving – and beneficial beyond all the “usual” ways that most of us appreciate modern technologies. Why?

We find it more effective and efficient than speaking. Even when we speak normally (we millions with acquired deafness or hearing loss).

This is not directly about captioning advocacy, yet it is overlapping. Do people realize that it’s exhausting for us to listen to others? Even with hearing aids, even with implants, even though we do some lip-reading — it’s tiring to listen, to focus on speakers, one by one, to find the extra energy to work for a long day.

Some may not agree with this observation. Yet it is true for millions of us. (The smaller population of Deaf people who are fluent in sign language and deaf from birth for the most part, use sign language and do not “listen” in the same way, so this does not apply to them in terms of listening per se, yet it does apply to all of us together in terms of using modern technologies.)

Working online, having the best internet connection possible, being able to afford modern communication technology, this is life-saving for all of us. It’s healthy, it’s a human need, and it’s a human right. When we also have accurate and immediate captioning for everyday situations – so many “off – line” things – then we can begin to relax and contribute even more than now. We all want to “give back” in good ways.